The Nature Action Dialogues 2025 have drawn to a close. For two days in late March, leaders from conservation, business and finance came together with the shared aim of exploring practical solutions to the triple planetary crisis and scaling up private sector action. 

Over 250 guests travelled to Cambridge for the second edition of this flagship event convened by UNEP-WCMC. With a diverse array of sectors represented – from banking and energy to agriculture and engineering – it was an opportunity for participants to share perspectives and insights with those outside of their usual sphere. A mixture of keynote speeches, interactive workshops and informal networking sessions made for a highly engaging and dynamic event format, with new connections forged and bold ideas exchanged. 

The theme for this year’s edition was ‘Accelerating private sector action at the nexus of biodiversity, climate and water’. The recent IPBES Nexus Assessment explored the complex interconnections between biodiversity, water, food, health and climate change and identified a wide range of response options to manage these elements holistically. We were thrilled to welcome David Obura, CORDIO East Africa Director and IPBES Chair, and Paula Harrison, Principal Natural Capital Scientist at UKCEH and Co-Chair of the IPBES Nexus Assessment, as our keynote speakers for the event. They highlighted the paramount importance of transforming economic systems and private sector practices to address underlying drivers of declines in nature and to address environmental and social challenges in an interconnected way.  

The programme for the Dialogues was as diverse as its attendees, with interactive workshop sessions on topics ranging from aligning financial flows and developing business resilience plans to the growing role of nature tech and the importance of compelling communications. Guests benefitted from a wide range of expertise, with session leads from the World Economic Forum, the Capitals Coalition and the WBSCD sharing the podium with UNEP-WCMC, Birdlife International and Fauna & Flora, among many others. 

One thread that was carried through the agenda was the need for strengthened collaboration and partnership, both across and within sectors. Driving effective and meaningful engagement between financial organizations and business clients was the focus of a session led by the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI). Elsewhere, case studies were shared which demonstrated potential paths forward, such as the Asunafo-Asutifi Landscape Programme in Ghana facilitated by Proforest – a pre-competitive initiative aimed at tackling deforestation and building climate resilience. 

At the organizational level, it became clear that nature-positive approaches are gaining momentum. Businesses are engaging with frameworks such as the TNFD, GRI and CDP at an increasing rate, as well as incorporating nature and biodiversity risk assessments into their operations. However, there is much more to be done. A session led by the UNEP-WCMC Nature Economy team, ‘Every Job is a Nature Job’, delved deeper into the actions that can be taken within specific job functions to integrate nature into decision-making. 

The complexities of this area can be an obstacle to progress. Several sessions at the Dialogues sought to demystify aspects of measurement and disclosure, with UNEP-WCMC and the Biodiversity Footprint Intelligence Company hosting a thought-provoking discussion on state of nature ecosystem condition metrics. Meanwhile, there were opportunities for companies to learn more about the data resources available to them through the Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool, such as the Species Threat Abatement and Restoration metric. A session on Key Biodiversity Areas proved to be particularly enlightening, with businesses keen to discover how the identification of these areas could affect their operations.  

This year’s Nature Action Dialogues highlighted the value of bringing together organizations from over 30 different sectors. Across the workshop sessions, ideas were coming together on how to more effectively collaborate across value chains and landscapes and scale the solutions needed to meaningfully address business dependencies, impacts, risks and opportunities. 

We look forward to seeing the outcomes of these discussions and working with many attending organizations in the months ahead to build on the momentum generated these past few days.  

Stacey Baggaley, Principal Specialist, Nature and Business 

Watch this space for further insights from the Nature Action Dialogues 2025. For those who weren’t able to attend on this occasion, we are pleased to confirm that the event will run again in 2026. Register your interest for the event here and sign up for our latest news and updates to receive all the latest information about the next edition.